Monday, November 28, 2016

NMT, No-Me Teaching 5

a short Satsang with Master Nome – "Meditation"

One absolute Being forever is. It manifests as the Existence of all things & of all beings. It manifests itself as the Consciousness that knows in all beings. It manifests itself as the perfect, omnipresent Grace that shines as Happiness in the hearts of all beings. To know oneself as completely this absolute Being is the purpose, the essence, & the very substance of meditation. _

Meditate in a manner of dissolution so that there remains the Grace that is present everywhere, yet there is no recipient of it. Meditate in a manner of dissolution so that the Mind is absorbed in the Real Knowledge, which is Consciousness, like a piece of salt dissolves in water.

Meditate in a manner of dissolution of the false Individuality so that the Identity, once imagined to be located in the reflection in the mirror returns to the original Existence which is this Absolute Being.

Dissolve. Be absorbed. True Knowledge is the way to accomplish this completely. With the dissolution of the false identity, absorption of the “I” in the Self, all perplexity disappears, all confusions are resolved, & all Bondage vanishes. For this true Knowledge of your Being, the Self of all, inquire, “Who am I?” Inquire & thus dissolve & be absorbed.

The ever-shining Existence, the perpetually-existing Consciousness, & the perfection of Grace are what remain.

If you truly ask the question, “Who am I ?” there is no particularized thing called "I", yet all that there is thoroughly "I". There is nothing other than the one Self. Dissolution, or absorption, is only in Knowledge. In truth, there is no distinct, separate thing, with its own form, to dissolve, but only the Knowledge that recognizes this is called “dissolution.”

Nothing prevents you from meditation from beginning with the same intensity to which you are accustomed to end. The ability & the source are there all the time.

Even if something were to be made up that appeared as a Veil, still, it would not depart from being within the Consciousness that knows it.

[responding to a question about awakening from a daydream to waking]

Then next perceptions or ideas arise, & they seem as if real. The "reality" seems equal, thought after thought, experience after experience, & state of Mind after state after Mind. The "reality" does not diminish. It is constant. That which is constant is "you".

All of the forms that are illumined or taken to be real are not constant. Not only does the sense of reality derive from you, but the reality, just the Existence, is "you". If there is a Thought, the Existence in that Thought is "you", though you are not a Thought. If there is a daydream, or if the daydream appears as if solidified or crystallized, the Existence of all that is "you". There is no state in which the Existence ever becomes other than what it is. It cannot go out of itself [out of existence].

The Thought & the crystallized daydream never depart from being within that Existence. The Existence, itself though, is entirely without Differentiation.

The very existence of Illusion is your Existence. Once Illusion is imagined, it is your Reality that is lent to it. When you lend Reality to Illusion, Reality, as it is, is not seen.

So, dissolve Illusion. Since Illusion consists entirely of imagination & your belief in it, there is no difficulty in its destruction, or Liberation from it.

When in Illusion, the Reality is still so close that it seems as if the Illusion cannot he separated from that Reality. The Wise know that this is only indicative of the immediacy of the Reality & its homogeneous nature.

Even though Illusion so appears, you can still easily discern what is true & what is not, what is Reality & what is only a mere Illusion. Discern what is self-existent versus what is entirely dependent on your belief in it.

If you profoundly notice from where Happiness comes, you remain peacefully detached from all of the Illusion. You identify as the undivided Oneness that pervades all forms, but you are not attached to any of them.

The Thought is that objective confused happiness will make something seem more real, but it doesn’t. Confused happiness makes it less real.

The Thought makes true Happiness seem less real & veils it. Knowing the source of happiness yields detachment from all of the unreal appearances. You remain as their undivided Existence but not entangled with the appearances. There is a great, unmatched fullness in this.

I am the same as Brahman, I am the Self. There is no doubt of this. One who is firm in the conviction that I am Chaitanya (the Conscious Self) is called a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive).

S8.3

I am the Self, which is Consciousness. I am Param-Atman (the Supreme Self). I am attributeless (including absence of Gunas, "binding qualities"), I am higher than the highest. One who has this certitude is called a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive).

S8.3

I beyond the Self triad of Bodies (gross physical, subtle dream astral, & Deep Dreamless Sleep causal), I am Brahman, Consciousness. One whose final conclusion is that I am Brahman is called a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive).

S8.4

One who has no Body or such (mind & ego), who is certain that he is Brahman, & who if filled with the highest Bliss, & who revels in Bliss is called a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive).

T8.2 [meaning Tamil version chapter 8, verse 2]

One who has the certitude "I am the Supreme Brahman, without the 3 Qualities (gunas) of (illuminating) Sattva & the others (agitating Rajas & Tamas dullness), the Truth transcending the highest, of the nature of Consciousness–Bliss" – this is a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive). One who certitude "I am the Eternal Supreme Self without the 3 Bodies (gross physical, subtle dream astral, & Deep Dreamless Sleep causal), of the nature of Knowledge, the mass of Bliss, the One, the Eternal" – this is a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive).

T8.3

One who ever abides in Bliss, with no trace of attachments to the Body or such (mind & ego), in the certitude "I am the Supreme Brahman", the One, is a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive). One who is all Silence & in great Bliss, rid of Delusion, & is of the nature of Consciousness alone, without a trace of the sorrow-ridden Ego, is a Jivanmukta (liberated while alive).

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Defining Non-Duality pt 3 - one's spiritual practice

The view to which one adheres will determine what kinds of spiritual practices are engaged in & how they are practiced. These are not only basic views, forming one’s beliefs, determining the manner of practice & the resultant experiences, but also represent degrees of depth, or height, of spiritual experience. Each succeeding one is more of the Truth, less of the Ego, more of Liberation, less of Bondage, more of Knowledge, & less of unexamined Ignorance.

In one’s spiritual aspiration, one necessarily has a view of what the Absolute is, be it a set of ideas or a result of inner experience. The deeper the experience, the more transcendent of notions it is & the more Non-Dual it is. An Un-Qualified Duality [UQD] view asserts that the Absolute is one thing & one’s self another. There is a God, by whatever name called, & there is a separate soul, by whatever name called, & these are regarded as different in every respect. Though there may be similarities, such as both lasting forever, they are regarded as different as 2 distinct Objects, as different. With such an approach, one practices to establish some relation to the Supreme, the Lord, but there is no union or merger. Even in a heavenly realm, the distinction still persists.

In Duality, the Absolute is viewed as if with all the qualities of a person, but on a grander scale, distinct from all others. A Qualified Non-Duality [QND] view supposes the Absolute to be one thing & oneself another, but there is some sameness due to relation. The Absolute may be regarded as one’s source, just as a spark has fire as its source, but it is not regarded as the same as the fire itself. The Absolute may be regarded as something to which one will eventually return, but it is not regarded as the same as one’s own state now or as one’s nature. With such a view, spiritual practice is to maintain a relation to the Absolute with the knowledge that one was once part of that limitless Being & one may return to it, but, for now, one must seek to deepen one’s relation to that God. The Supreme is viewed as similar to a person, yet on a grander scale, but which has left its mark, spark, or a trace of itself in the individual. With Qualified Duality [QD] as one’s view, spiritual practice aims at the strengthening of the relation with the Lord, the Supreme.

The view of Qualified Non-Duality [QND] is that the Absolute is of the same nature as oneself, one’s self being of the same nature as it, though there are distinctions, such as a difference in vastness, steadiness of experience, & such. It is said to be as a glass of water & the ocean. They both are water, the same thing, yet they are not the same. One’s understanding can extend to the point of viewing the Absolute as a background of All, or as a substrate of all, as that from which everything arises & to which all will return, & even as that which pervades everyone & everything with a distinction between the pervader & the pervaded. There can be experience of union, but this will be followed by separation again, though there can be a memory of the union while differentiation resumes. The individual experiencer remains, for whom all else arises, who thinks, who feels, who acts, & such. With the view of Qualified Non-Duality [QND], spiritual practice will be one of attempting merger or union. The Absolute is viewed more impersonally, as a greater intelligence or as some all-pervading presence.

In pure, or Un-Qualified Duality [UQD], the Absolute is the Self, & the Self is the Absolute. There is no other Absolute & no other self. They are forever indivisible. Union is ever the reality, or it may be said there is never a division at any time. All differentiation is regarded as the mis-perception of a Rope to be a Snake; it is purely Ignorance, or imagination, & never real at anytime. There is no individuality, & the ego-death or destruction of that ignorant ego-assumption, with its concomitant ideas of all else, is by Knowledge. The practice is one of Knowledge, the prime method of which is Self-inquiry, the finding of the answer within oneself to the introspective Inquiry question, “Who am I ?”

Knowledge, itself is the path, or the means of spiritual practice, & the method of meditation is Self-Inquiry. In Non-Duality, the aim of the reception & absorption of spiritual instruction is the Knowledge of “That thou art,” as the Upanishad declares. In Non-Duality, the Absolute is known as Existence itself, or as Consciousness, itself Meditations on the substrate, the background, the all-pervading One, & such are understood as steps & not the final Reality. Reality, itself, is immutable, forever indivisible, always present, & without–a–2nd or anything other.

The view of oneself may be a collection of mis-identifications, or it may be actual Knowledge of oneself. The deeper, or higher, the view, the more Non-Dual it will be. It is Duality when one’s identity, the "self" is regarded as an individual soul encased within a Body. It will thus be always less than & different from God. Even alter Death, there will be a soul with another kind of Body. even if it be more subtle. Because of mis-identification, all the activities of the Mind & Body are regarded as one’s own, & the existence of the Ego is unquestioned. Yet one dedicates these activities in service to God according to His will, thus attenuating the influence of Egotism.

In Qualified Duality [QD], the self is regarded as an individual soul with a spark of the divine within it. The soul should be guided by that spark. There is identity will all the activities of the Body & Mind & no real questioning of the existence of the Ego, but the inner divinity can guide these in addition to the will of God in an outer way.

In Qualified Non-Duality [QND], the "self" is regarded as the experiencer. This may be as a sensing entity or as a mental entity. Even as a sensing entity, the emphasis will still be on the awareness incorporated in the sensory experience, because anything spiritual presumes one is not identifying as a mere Body seeking mere sensory things. If there is merger, the experiencer remains or returns as the "ongoing reality"’ & the higher experience is regarded as that which comes & goes. The attributes of the Ego may be questioned or released, such as aspects of the Mind or tendencies of thought, but the Ego itself or Individuality, is not actually inquired into. The Individual is the one who is attempting to combine the higher experiences with the retained belief of a manifest World, which is perceived, or conceived, by a process of mis-identification.

In Qualified pure Non-Duality [UQND], the Self is known to be pure, Formless Being-Consciousness-Bliss, with no Individuality at all, & not defined by a Mind or a Body. It is not a "self" or a "soul", but the Non-Dual Self, without limit, definition, or form. It is the Reality, without coming or going, without Birth or Death. It is utterly impersonal & attributeless. The Non-Dual practice is that

of singular Self-Inquiry to know the Self; not the Self in relation to anything else, but to know it as it is free of mis-identification. The Self is free of Subject & Object, & the Knowledge of the Self is non-objective. Hence, it is Self-Knowledge in which the Knower & the known are the same. One practices Self-inquiry so as to abide in steady Knowledge of the Self.

In Un-Qualified Duality [UQD], Qualified Duality [QD], & Qualified Non-Duality [QND], Knowledge becomes increasingly important. In Un-Qualified Non-Duality [UQND], Knowledge is of paramount importance for Knowledge alone destroys Ignorance, & what one seeks is to experience Reality as it is. To the degree that there is an increase of Knowledge of the Self, even accidentally, to that degree is spiritual advancement occurring in any spiritual practice undertaken with any view.

In Non-Duality, since the Absolute & one’s Self are identical, it is all-important to realize the Self. Since the Self is the Reality, which ever is, & all differentiation is only imagined in Ignorance, the Realization comes by, & is identical with, the Knowledge of the Self, which alone destroys Ignorance. Since it is imperative to know oneself, the practice is that of Self-Inquiry to know the Self. When one recognizes that Non-Duality must be what is true, one takes the path to realize it.

What one regards as real is, or becomes, one’s experience. According to the degree of Duality or Non-Duality, what is regarded as real will be different. In all cases, there must be the breaking of attachment to the things of the World, but the depth reached thereafter is different. In Un-Qualified Duality [UQD] the World is regarded as real. It is the creation of the Supreme, God, unless one is an Atheist, in which case it is an accident of matter, but such would not be any spiritual view at all. The World is regarded as external, one seems to dwell in it, & the Supreme seems elsewhere. The determination of Reality is the Senses & the mental cognition of the same. In Duality, God is regarded as one part of Reality, & the Individuals, the World, & God seem as 3 distinct things.

In Qualified Duality [QD], the World is regarded as real & created, but it is the splendor, or manifestation, of the Supreme. Some part of the Supreme manifests its presence in the World in various ways. The World may be viewed its God’s "Eternal Play" [lila], or as something that is temporarily "arising". The determination of Reality is still the senses & the Mind. The Supreme is seen as one part of the Reality, but it has left its spark, or something of itself in the individuals & in the World.

In Qualified Non-Duality [QND], the World is regarded as real as a projection of the Supreme, as a Dream of God, as a Creation of the Mind, as the Mind’s play, as the energy of Consciousness, or as similar to these. The determination of Reality is still with the Senses & the Mind, & the Objective aspect is regarded as existent yet, in nature, more subtle than matter. Therefore, the Absolute, or the Self, is regarded as only one part of Reality, & not the only reality. In Un-Qualified pure Non-Duality [QND], there is no embodied Individual &, so, no World perceived by the Individual or the Body.

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through www.jpstiga.com ]

To further illustrate in a concrete way some "Defining Non-Duality pt 1" distinctions between Un-Qualified Duality [UQD], Qualified Duality [QD], Qualified Non-Duality [QND], & Un-Qualified Non-Duality [UQND], we consider the "mystery" of Theodicy, that of evil in the World & why God allows it to exist. (Perhaps since we are delving into the "World" in this episode, it may serve to repeat our occasional "value-disclaimer": whatever good might be accomplished with, say a hundred billion dollars, whatever the practical value such funding might have, never for a micro-second could we consider relinquishing the liberating Teaching of Non-Duality, Advaita Vedanta, for such a pay-off. Whatever the World holds is unreal, whatever leads to the Self-Realization of Non-Duality is priceless beyond all imagination).

Theodicy – To further illustrate Theodicy, evil in the World & why God allows it to exist.

Testosterone Monsters – Mostly males, but a few females have stretched the envelope of credulity when it comes to cruel Theodicy, so to speak. Long-term sexual slavery & sadistic abuse is incredible. Mass murder, genocide, Inquisitions, slow boiling of enemies, quartering by horses & the “rack”, hanging by the tongue, the genitals, the intestines, you name it. Unspeakable cruelty & terror, a thousand cuts, covering a skinned victim with covering sheets of cellophane to prolong survival & pain – what is the point ? Sado-sexual cross-wiring & hate, sick adrenaline-rush from a real-live horror movie, it is baffling. Extracting information by dismemberment, nailing scrotum or tongue to a table, subjecting the victim to be devoured by fire, insects, crabs, rodents, wild beasts, or dogs. Daily immersion in feces, overheating & crowding, freezing, withholding sleep, food & water, attaching electrodes internally & to pain centers in joints, teeth, eyeballs, private parts, & so on. How can this be, what does it mean ? Such super-dense ignorance foretells long-term compensating karma & fierce obstacles to awakening for the perpetrator. Perhaps some accelerated karmic catch-up is a factor for the victim, who can say ? No God “allows” this most horrid of Ego manifestation. And yet considering the selfish nature of Ego, only glimmerings of Divine self-nature explain why is not even worse. For true “pure” Ego, anything goes when it’s the other guy. Mis-directed self-love always rationalizes the pain of a victim as somehow deserved. The same mis-directed self-love always paints the act as loyally following orders, seeking revenge & honor, or some other twisted explanation.

That all would be part of what we later call the rajasic side. But dull-minded neglect & indifference, the other tamasic side of human cruelty can be just as crushing. Giving birth to AIDS infested fetal-alcohol (and/or "gifted" with HIV, syphilis, etc) babies dangerously born to too-young mothers & rape victims, babies pre-addicted to crack cocaine & heroin, how can there be such neglect ? Getting high & “partying” in the a filthy room, leaving babies locked in roach & rat infested, unclean restrooms, with stopped-up, overflowing toilets, babies “toyed” with by cigarette burns & sold by the hour to sexual predators, how can there be parents like this ? And how different are they from the luxuriously pampered privileged one inheriting millions or cheating hundreds of have-nots with financial swindles, when those same through selfish greed, indifferent contempt, war-mongering & political hate serve as active or passive accomplices to families freezing & starving, lying sick in the streets & roadways ?

Not for the first time, nor last, there arises the enigma of Theodicy, that mystery of evil in the World, & questions like: how can a loving God let all the "bad things" happen ? To various questioners, various first answers could be offered in terms of UQD, QD, QND, & UQND. Only some such explanations can be introduced here in the partial outline that follows:

I) UQD, Qualified Duality – adherents for starters live in denial about how mean-spirited God would have to be to have eternal Hell, to leave the vast majority excluded from Calvin’s Predestination, Rapture, or whatever might be the current & Last Days elitist clubhouse. Pushing all that under the rug first, they attempt to console themselves with “God’ s will” & his “mysterious ways.” But when their young daughter is stricken with painful & fatal disease, or raped & tortured by a child molester, some understandably turn their backs on that God when their blind faith has thus been too sorely tested. War & evil of all sorts can overwhelm the UQD practitioner.

II) QD, Qualified Duality – adherents are "soft" on hell but more rationally find mystery in Theodicy, God’s destiny or justice, that includes the existence of evil. In a circular mutually modeling cycle, Crime & Punishment Legal systems mirror & inspire Crime & Punishment Theological systems, & vice versa. In neither case can the grim enjoyment of revenge & retribution satisfy the grief of loved ones. At the same time, revenge punishment offers precious little "closure" balm to innocent victims who suffer, & of course less solace to those who die.

III) QND, Qualified Non-Duality adherents include some who take a subtler but also weak position on Theodicy, & this QND subset itself can be well divided into 2 groups for clarity. One still retains some metaphysical version of a RWOT [real-world-out-there] ranging from varieties of Deism-Panentheism to all kinds of Gnostic & Theosophical hierarchies of planes & levels with many hierarchies of beings. Exoteric Buddhism & Hinduism, for instance, retain almost biblical heavenly hosts & demonic hosts, armies at war with each, like traditional religion’s angels & demons. Levels of heaven & hell abound, though usually not eternal hell. Astral planes of all description are the scene for elaborate delineations of karma, where hopefully, mysteries of Theodicy get lost or forgotten in all the confusion. In a sense this

strategy, at best, results in a plan of not getting distracted by theodicy, dealing with what "learning experience" comes your way, but primarily getting on with one’s real job of striving for union with

God, the Buddha-Mind, or the Tao. The 2 groups filter all of the foregoing through roughly 2 distinguishable models for a RWOT [real-world-out-there]: both QND & less than highest UQND.

Nirguna Brahman, Buddha-Mind, Dharmakaya, most absolute Tao, by whatever name “co-exists” in some fashion with Saguna (with form) Brahman or equivalent. This latter more objective aspect of Absolute Reality or God projects, dreams, or “like a spider extruding its web” s omehow manifests a Universe out of its own substance. God’s Dream or Lila ("Sport, Play, Dance"), or web of Illusion (Maya is a more friendly tone) contains all of "us" as evanescent characters playing out multi-lifetime karma –learning. Rehabilitative sentences (ajudicated) with R & R rewards on various heavenly, hellish, & other planes are determined by our thoughts (especially last ones), words & deeds that obscure the reality of God in & as it all. Evil describes the wrong turns that we dream–characters take in our winding path. Victims of karma thereby fulfill retributive punishment from former transgressions recorded in the akashic records or their own minds. So no matter how horrible, the suffering is expiative, like Purgatory on the fly. Ultimately, as generalized above, union with God is the destiny of all these dream characters or projections/sparks with whose immortal souls live through many, thousands or millions of lifetimes as required.

Nirguna Brahman (Absolute Reality without Form) & Saguna Brahman (Absolute Reality without a little Form left in) is a distinction that becomes far more virtual in the 2nd group, verging toward Nirguna Brahman alone which is UQND, Un-Qualified Non-Duality. What we will repeatedly return to as the “Counting Problem” is embraced here in the negative in that “there is only One even if it can seem that we are many.” Life & the Universe are illusions from which we awaken to rediscover that we are One all along.” How this can happened remains a mystery as it must because the only resolution lies in the context of Un-Qualified Non-Duality, UQND where it just plain never happened. Evil, Suffering, & Theodicy are branded with the status of Illusion, but this can still be weak solace to one who is suffering or who is or knows an innocent victim of Evil. Progressively, from the furthest advanced edge of QD Qualified Duality through QND Qualified Non-Duality there is growing recognition that Ego is the selfish fount of misguided, ignorant Evil. So then seeking Liberation, “erasing the Ego” is the only solution. Further into Qualified Non-Duality, QND toward UQND, Un-Qualified Non-Duality, the surprise is no longer in the perverse depths of consummate Evil whenever it appears. Rather, in contemplating the inversion that is Ego, we must be surprised that, with "out for number one" Ego at the “helm”, Evil is not even worse. Rather than feeling betrayed by God for “allowing” Ego, this seeker is grateful for the Grace that holds Ego–Evil at bay, limits it, admits Goodness, & in the end redeems all from evil Ego.

IV) UQND, Un-Qualified Non-Duality alone has an answer for Theodicy, evil, Ego, & all suffering. Knowledge alone liberates, knowledge of the Self as Brahman "1-without-a-2nd". Words cannot express Un-Qualified Non-Duality, UQND but more words will be directed at hinting & pointing as we proceed. Looking back across this brief Outline, we metaphorically see that needless suffering, Ego, evil & such are the “fly in the ointment” for UQD, QD, & QND, a fatal flaw in every one of them that belies posing as a complete understanding.

V) SPAM [scientism–physicalism–atheism–materialism], needless to say, can only face Evil & Suffering with “fear & loathing,” enough to inspire suicide in any such adherent who is not living in denial. In this “last” or “first” properly but listed-out-of-order entry, there is no God, so no Theodicy or divine mystery or answer to Evil. Instead Evil is trumpeted as a salient "proof" against the existence of God. Taking on the lamest & least appropriate spokesmen for spirituality, the most obdurate Fundamentalists within UQD Un-Qualified Duality & their Bibles, all at face value, SPAM adherens they see no answer forthcoming at all to their question: "how can there be a God if "He" allows evil & suffering in the World. For SPAM, evil proves no-God. So again, the contradiction of evil Theodicy is resolved only in the “all Form is unreal” absolute resolution of Un-Qualified Non-Duality, UQND reviewed in acronyms.

SPAM = Scientism-Physicalism-Atheism-Materialism

UQD = Un-Qualified Duality

QD = Qualified Duality

QND = Qualified Non-Duality

UQND = Un-Qualified Non-Duality

Typically, there is the “allow” term in the: how can there be a God if he "allows" Evil & Suffering in the World. This “allow” part of the objection carries a context of complete micro-management by special creations & miracles at all times, & a divine "Legal Justice" system context. The God of Un-Qualified Duality, UQD has his fingers in every pie, all the time, or else he doesn’t exist, they would say. Any undesired outcome is “God’s will” & he seems mean-spirited for intending & dictating the nasty ones. There “should” be no disease, no evil, no death, but only great family planning. God could not exist if he fails the criteria for fair play, good intentions, & support of life, liberty, justice, & the American way, the pursuit of, even if never finding, Happiness, & generally a good GDP & low unemployment rate for all. Then the fact that some of us are born weak, fat, sick, ugly, & impoverished is another issue but we’ll take that up another day under "identification with the body". All goes to show that God is not very nice, eyen without the unspeakably insane eternal Hell, so therefore he could not exist, so say SPAM adherents.

[The above themes & 1600 pages more are freely available as perused or downloaded PDF’s, the sole occupants of a Public Microsoft Skydrive “Public Folder” accessible through www.jpstiga.com ]